The present invention relates to sun visors, and more particularly to an apparatus for extending the sunshade protection of a vehicle visor.
Conventional sunshades or visors are generally attached near the top of an automobile windshield. Such conventional sunshades are generally relatively flat. These conventional sunshades or visors generally have only two degrees of rotational freedom, one in an arc around a horizonal axis and the other in an arc around a vertical axis.
The use of a sunshade or a visor to block the sun from direct line of sight of the eyes of an occupant of a vehicle requires that the sunshade or visor be placed in the line of sight. Such placement is not always possible, especially when the sun is low in the sky early in the day and late in the day.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to allow for increased sunshade protection over the protection afforded by the conventional sun visor.
Another object of this invention is to provide additional protection from direct sunlight to occupants of a motor vehicle, particularly occupants in the front seat.
Yet another object of this invention is to allow one to minimize the size of a sun visor when it is not in use.
Another object of this invention is to allow for a moveable extension of a sun visor.
Still another object of this invention is to achieve increased sunshade protection by use of the new apparatus.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part are obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the articles and apparatus particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the invention as broadly described herein, an apparatus for providing sunshade protection is provided wherein the apparatus comprises (1) a sleeve adapted to be placed over a sun visor of a vehicle, said sleeve being substantially congruent with said vehicle sun visor; and (2) an extendable element, said element slidably attached to said sleeve, said element being slidable to a position for providing increased sunshade protection.
Preferably, the apparatus according to the invention is constructed of a light-weight material such as cardboard or plastic and is folded to assume its functional shape.